Chuck's Roadhouse Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Hamilton

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Chuck’s Roadhouse, and overall, it was a very enjoyable experience. While red meat isn’t usually my wife’s first choice, the menu does include chicken and lighter options. She opted for a burger with a side salad, which she found satisfying, while my grandmother-in-law chose the fish and chips. I decided on the sirloin surf and turf.

Food: The kitchen executed my order very well. I requested a rare steak and was pleasantly surprised to receive one that was perfectly cooked, almost bordering on blue, which is my actual preference but not something many restaurants in Canada will serve. The steak itself was tender rather than tough, though it was seasoned with Montreal steak spice. I personally don’t care for that flavor profile, and I don’t recall it being noted on the menu, but others may appreciate it. The lobster tail was tender, and the onion rings were excellent, crispy and well-prepared. My grandmother-in-law thoroughly enjoyed the fish and chips, and my wife was satisfied with her burger. The accompanying salad was fresh too, no brown bits, no tough lettuce cores.

Drinks: The drink experience was more mixed. I usually order a Long Island Iced Tea, which wasn’t on the menu, but our server was kind enough to have one made for me. While the flavor was middle of the road, I still appreciated the effort and flexibility. My wife ordered a Caesar, which was fine overall, though not quite to her preference. The pepper rim was well done, but the use of lemon felt a little out of place with the flavor profile, and the tomato base tasted more straightforward than the Clamato she enjoys.

Service: The service was outstanding. Our server was polite, attentive, and genuinely friendly, which elevated the entire dining experience.

Appetizers: We ordered the garlic pan bread to start. While I am not particularly fond of pull-apart or “monkey bread” style preparations, this comes down to personal preference. Flavor-wise, the bread was excellent.

Atmosphere: Chuck’s has the feel of a classic bar and grill. It was louder than the types of restaurants I typically prefer, but the energy fits the atmosphere they aim for. Despite being right in the middle of the dinner rush, the space was clean, tidy, and well-kept, which left a good impression.

Overall: Chuck’s Roadhouse delivered solid food, exceptional service, and good value. While the cocktails weren’t entirely to our taste, the effort to accommodate an off-menu request was appreciated. Combined with attentive service, quality dishes, and a lively yet well-maintained environment, it made for a positive dining experience that I...

Tonight was one of the worst experiences we have had we stopped going here for awhile due to our food was never cooked right so we decided to give this place another chance we got sat right away our server took our drink order than disappeared until the rest of our party showed up didn't ask if we wanted any apps nothing the rest of our party shows up Kenzie was our server she took their drink order than again disappeared for 20 mins took our app order and food order, the food was a bit under done but it was edible. Kenzie checked in on us once and we never seen her again we waited over an hour and a half to pay our bill she was no where to be found I wanted to order dessert and couldn't find her any where I had to flag down another server to find Kenzie and to put my dessert order in for take out at this point. Than she came to the table and got the machine for our friends bill and disappeared and we waited for her to come back to pay my bill this point I was mad the place wasn't busy at all to be waiting for our bill that long we seen 2 tables walk out without paying because she was no where to be found to cash them out. So I asked another server and the host to speak to a manager and Kenzie comes to the table and I said I'm waiting to speak to a manger before paying she leaves and comes back saying well I'm a supervisor as well what's the problem and I said I need to speak to a manger please so she goes to the bar and sends over the manager who was no older than 19 comes to the table I explained the situation and he said well we have had some problems in the kitchen we had to deal with and unfortunately I can't do nothing to the bill as I don't have that authentication to do anything I'm terribly sorry and than says I can call head office or come back in and speak the the general manager on Tuesday.. I could of walked out but didn't as I have respect for the service industry as I work in a kitchen and manager at another restaurant. But the service and experience by far has been the worst. So I asked the manager for head offices number and I am going to speak to the general manager on Tuesday because the service was unacceptable. This place has gone down hill I'm all for giving places chances after chances but after tonight I don't know if I'll look back at dinning here again. So thanks Kenzie for ruining our night out with our friends. Worst server ever.. what happened to making the customer happy before walking out the door. The steps of service at this place is ridiculous they were not met at all. So please can someone reach out to me thanks for your time. I would never recommend this...

Where do I begin? First off, the bathrooms were filthy and lacked both toilet paper and paper towels. Then our server took our drink order and left, even though we told her we were ready to order food. We didn’t see her for so long that other servers started to ask us if we needed anything. Eventually we got our drinks and put in our food order, only to be left waiting again. So long that other servers again asked us if we needed anything while we waited. Our server then returned to say she was going to check on our food and again disappeared for a very long time, never letting us know what the delay was. During this time, other people arrived after us, ordered and ate full meals. Finally we asked one of the other servers (as ours was nowhere in sight) to speak to the manager. He did eventually come with our appetizer. He tried to blame it on the fact that they had a large party at a nearby table. They did in fact have a large party, but these people had all been served their food before we arrived, and our server wasn’t helping them at any rate. Keep in mind this was at around 2:30-3pm, so not peak restaurant time either. When we told the manager others who arrived after us had already eaten and left, only then did he admit the server had never put in our order. He said he’d “take care of us.” We assumed he was going to take over serving us but instead we endured the awkwardness of having the same server, who clearly didn’t want to continue serving us. For compensation we were told we’d be getting ice cream, something we didn’t actually want, so we turned it down. Instead, our server gave us “Chuck Bucks” worth $20, which was satisfactory. We never saw the manager again though, which I would think he would’ve come back to see if we were happy with the food we eventually got and the compensation. Needless to say, we didn’t tip our server. Our only regret being that we weren’t able to tip the young lady who did in fact help us when our server was MIA. We also saw another table that our server was assigned to tell our server to thank the other young lady for them as she had been the one to help them. We are not the type to complain, or ask to speak to a manager, or even write reviews like this one, but in this case we thought it best to warn others that the service here is terrible, and the food isn’t good enough to justify putting yourself through that. Go next door to Turtle...